The Effects of Seductive Details on Recognition Tests and Transfer Tasks
Abstract
This research focuses on the investigation of pre-training and in-training events that facilitate effective learning and the transfer of knowledge and skills acquired through distributed learning. We tested training effectiveness principles in the context of suboptimal learning. Specifically, we investigated the seductive details phenomenon, a condition in which the inclusion of interesting information irrelevant to the training objectives reduces trainee learning. In terms of our findings, we found no effect of seductive details on recall tests in the experiments. This finding is contrary to much of the previous research that has found that providing seductive details distracts trainees from learning and results in lower scores on recall tests than those who are not exposed to seductive details. However, we did find support for our proposition that inclusion of seductive details benefits transfer performance. These findings suggest that to enhance transfer, distributed learning designers should incorporate interesting yet tangential features into the technology.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA483155
Entities
People
- Annette Towler
- Kurt Kraiger
Organizations
- DePaul University